This win came with a loss, as the Kings lose their leading scorer Kevin Martin for at least a month to a groin injury. Let's put it this way, he's on the same timetable for Mike Bibby to return from a torn ligament in his left thumb. Bibby's has been practicing but has not guarded anyone yet. So until then, someone will have to step up to fill in Martin's shoes until both of them come back, and it might be John Salmons or Francisco Garcia. (Video on the link)
The last time these 2 teams met in Utah the Kings were without Ron Artest (personal reasons) and Brad Miller (injury). We now know that Artest missed 2 games because his daughter, Diamond, has a Grade 3 cancerous Wilms' tumor on her kidney. Artest has missed 9 games in all, 7 games because of the suspension but 2games because of his daughter.
http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/537972.html
The Jazz ended up routing them by 24 points, but with Artest and Miller back, that was not the case. The benches ended up making all of the difference.
The Kings stayed close with the Jazz the entire game not letting the score get away from them. Kevin Martin scored a team high 25 points before sustaining the injury with less than a minute to go. In the 4th quarter, the Kings would have a 43 point explosion with team effort. John Salmons would pick up where Martin left scoring 13 straight Kings points leading up to a 21 point finish, a score he was averaging before Artest came back from his suspension. He also had 6 rebounds. Speaking of Artest, he finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds , near what he's aveaging. He kept Andrei Kirilenko down to 6 points and 3 rebounds, but AK-47 also had 6 assists and 3 blocks. Brad Miller is looking good just about every game now, getting a double double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Beno Udrih didn't contribute that much offensively like he normally does, but he finished with 10 points and a game high 4 steals. Mikki Moore is starting to find his niche with the team, as he had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Francisco Garcia came off the bench to score 10 points including 2 big 3 pointers in the 4th quarter to seal the game
Utah went in leading from the 2nd-4th quarters but were unable to hold on. Their bench was outscored 35-17. Five players came off the Jazz bench and 3 out of 5 Kings bench players scored. Deron Williams had another big game for himself finishing with 30 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Big man Carlos Boozer had a double double 19 points and 11 rebounds and 2 steals. Mehmet Okur is starting to return to his old form after a poor start to the season with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Ronnie Brewer is off to a great sophomore season as he finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds.
Like I said before, the bench made all of the difference in this game. It looks like John Salmons has finally put his disappointment of losing the starting job aside and might go back to what he was doing early in the season, scoring 21 ppg. Except to the 76ers and maybe the Denver Nuggets he's basically an unknown like Kevin Martin was last year. He had problems where he didn't like being overshadowed by Allen Iverson and Chris Webber in Philidelphia and Ron Artest most recently, but if he puts that aside he can be one of the leading scorers on the team. He got his first triple double last year against AI on his first game at Denver. Francisco Garcia looks like he's ready to take the next step in his career. He's hit 2 big shots this year that have sealed 2 games. It's been anticipated that this could be his breakout year, and after 31 points at Phoenix, maybe the best is yet to come.
Utah is still off to a great start. All of their starters are consitent double figure scorers and their bench showed how much depth they had against the Lakers. It was an off night for their bench though. Former King Jason Hart played but was ineffective for his 5 minutes. Former King Ronnie Price didn't play at all. You never know, sometimes the player who you don't expect to play well could be the difference in the game.
If the 7-10 Atlanta Hawks are a darkhorse for the playoffs, I say give the 7-10 Kings a shot. They're finally meshing together and know thier roles in the game. Almost a quarter of the season played they're hanging at 10th place in the west. They've beaten playoff teams that include the Pistons, Spurs, Rockets and Jazz and lost close games to the Suns Cavs, and Warriors. They're playing a great level right now, but the real test comes to see if they can take that level on the road next week, playing at Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey and Milwaukee, all without Kevin Martin. They're 0-7 on the road but if they're lucky, they could be 3-9 at the end. Predicition: If they play like they've been playing they might get 10-15 or 11-14 after the road trip.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
The last time these 2 teams met in Utah the Kings were without Ron Artest (personal reasons) and Brad Miller (injury). We now know that Artest missed 2 games because his daughter, Diamond, has a Grade 3 cancerous Wilms' tumor on her kidney. Artest has missed 9 games in all, 7 games because of the suspension but 2games because of his daughter.
http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/537972.html
The Jazz ended up routing them by 24 points, but with Artest and Miller back, that was not the case. The benches ended up making all of the difference.
The Kings stayed close with the Jazz the entire game not letting the score get away from them. Kevin Martin scored a team high 25 points before sustaining the injury with less than a minute to go. In the 4th quarter, the Kings would have a 43 point explosion with team effort. John Salmons would pick up where Martin left scoring 13 straight Kings points leading up to a 21 point finish, a score he was averaging before Artest came back from his suspension. He also had 6 rebounds. Speaking of Artest, he finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds , near what he's aveaging. He kept Andrei Kirilenko down to 6 points and 3 rebounds, but AK-47 also had 6 assists and 3 blocks. Brad Miller is looking good just about every game now, getting a double double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Beno Udrih didn't contribute that much offensively like he normally does, but he finished with 10 points and a game high 4 steals. Mikki Moore is starting to find his niche with the team, as he had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Francisco Garcia came off the bench to score 10 points including 2 big 3 pointers in the 4th quarter to seal the game
Utah went in leading from the 2nd-4th quarters but were unable to hold on. Their bench was outscored 35-17. Five players came off the Jazz bench and 3 out of 5 Kings bench players scored. Deron Williams had another big game for himself finishing with 30 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Big man Carlos Boozer had a double double 19 points and 11 rebounds and 2 steals. Mehmet Okur is starting to return to his old form after a poor start to the season with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Ronnie Brewer is off to a great sophomore season as he finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds.
Like I said before, the bench made all of the difference in this game. It looks like John Salmons has finally put his disappointment of losing the starting job aside and might go back to what he was doing early in the season, scoring 21 ppg. Except to the 76ers and maybe the Denver Nuggets he's basically an unknown like Kevin Martin was last year. He had problems where he didn't like being overshadowed by Allen Iverson and Chris Webber in Philidelphia and Ron Artest most recently, but if he puts that aside he can be one of the leading scorers on the team. He got his first triple double last year against AI on his first game at Denver. Francisco Garcia looks like he's ready to take the next step in his career. He's hit 2 big shots this year that have sealed 2 games. It's been anticipated that this could be his breakout year, and after 31 points at Phoenix, maybe the best is yet to come.
Utah is still off to a great start. All of their starters are consitent double figure scorers and their bench showed how much depth they had against the Lakers. It was an off night for their bench though. Former King Jason Hart played but was ineffective for his 5 minutes. Former King Ronnie Price didn't play at all. You never know, sometimes the player who you don't expect to play well could be the difference in the game.
If the 7-10 Atlanta Hawks are a darkhorse for the playoffs, I say give the 7-10 Kings a shot. They're finally meshing together and know thier roles in the game. Almost a quarter of the season played they're hanging at 10th place in the west. They've beaten playoff teams that include the Pistons, Spurs, Rockets and Jazz and lost close games to the Suns Cavs, and Warriors. They're playing a great level right now, but the real test comes to see if they can take that level on the road next week, playing at Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey and Milwaukee, all without Kevin Martin. They're 0-7 on the road but if they're lucky, they could be 3-9 at the end. Predicition: If they play like they've been playing they might get 10-15 or 11-14 after the road trip.
Original Story:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?game....
